COMESA Yellow Card: our experience in East Africa

From Zambia, our route continued through East Africa, taking us through Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Malawi. We’d read plenty of reports on iOverlander about arguments over insurance prices at border crossings. Honestly, we didn’t fancy that. So we arranged COMESA insurance in advance: one insurance document covering several countries.

This article is based on our own experience of taking out COMESA insurance in December 2025. Prices and application options may have changed since then.

The key facts

What COMESA does and doesn’t cover

COMESA insurance is officially called the COMESA Yellow Card. It’s regional motor third-party liability insurance for use in participating countries. The principle is similar to the Green Card in Europe.

At Phoenix, we took out COMESA alongside our Zambian third-party policy. The cover is for damage you cause to others with your vehicle, not damage to your own car. So it wasn’t travel insurance or comprehensive cover for Donkey.

The cover follows the statutory liability limits of the country where an accident happens. More information is available on the official COMESA page about the Yellow Card.

Which countries accept COMESA, and how long does it last?

According to the official country list, the COMESA Yellow Card is accepted in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

When we applied, we could specify which countries we wanted to visit. For our onward route, we chose Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Malawi. For Zambia, we had local third-party insurance.

At Phoenix, we could choose cover for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months. Our premium depended on the number of countries we wanted to visit and the length of cover. We chose six countries and six months.

One restriction with our policy was that we couldn’t add another country to the existing COMESA cover later. If you decide to visit a country you didn’t originally include, you’ll need separate cover for it. You may be able to buy local third-party insurance at the border. Check beforehand whether that’s possible at your intended crossing.

The application: straightforward, apart from one thing

Applying at Phoenix Insurance in Livingstone was surprisingly straightforward. The staff were helpful and everything was arranged quickly. There was just one problem: the office had run out of the special yellow paper needed to print the document. Without it, they couldn’t issue our Yellow Card. We’d have to collect it from the head office in Lusaka instead.

That wasn’t a problem, as Lusaka was on our route anyway. But we didn’t get there until New Year’s Eve. And as if that wasn’t enough, six kilometres before the Phoenix office, Raimundo drove straight on where a right turn was compulsory. The result: a 600-kwacha fine. We didn’t find that quite so funny at the time.

Read our Zambia blog

Thankfully, our document was ready at Phoenix. We collected it and paid for the insurance package in cash.

Before entering Zambia: arranging third-party insurance online

Before driving into Zambia from Namibia, we arranged Zambian third-party insurance online. We tried Phoenix first, but their online system didn’t work for us. So we took out the policy with Goldman Insurance Limited instead. That worked: 250 kwacha for three months, compared with 304 kwacha at the border.

That meant our insurance for Zambia was sorted before we crossed the border. We then applied for COMESA cover for our onward route at Phoenix in Livingstone. We don’t know whether Goldman also offers COMESA.

At the borders

Customs asked for our COMESA insurance at every border crossing. We showed the document, and it was accepted each time. No arguments and no need to arrange another policy. Exactly what we’d taken it out for.

Thankfully, we didn’t have any accidents or damage along the way, so we can’t comment on the claims process.

Was COMESA cheaper?

We don’t know. The 2,993 kwacha was the total for our Zambian third-party insurance and COMESA cover for six countries, valid for six months. We didn’t calculate what separate policies for those countries would have cost.

For us, the main benefit was convenience. Collecting the document in Lusaka took time and a bit of planning, but after that, our insurance was sorted for the rest of this route.

Would we do it again?

Yes. For a similar trip, we’d choose COMESA again. But we’d first look for a provider that lets us arrange both the local third-party policy and COMESA online. We’d contact Goldman about that, although we still need to find out whether they offer both.